Metal car body



April 6 ,1926. 1,579,673

F. TENCH ET AL METAL CAR BODY Filed Jan. 30, 1925- 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 iu-m A TTORNEYJ April 6 ,1926. 1,579,673

F. TENCH ET AL METAL CAR BODY Filed Jan. 50, 1925l 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 f Wma/6m A TTORNEYS April 6 1926. 1,579,673

F. TENCH El AL METAL CAR BODY Filed Jan. 30, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 www H v INVENTORS Pvatented 6, 1926. p.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFICE.

fREDlJRIGK TENCH, OF WHITE PLAINS, AND MAURICE LAGHI/IAN, OF YORK', N. Y.v4

\` METAL can BODY.

Application led January A30, 1925. Serial No. 5,709.

To aZZf/whom z' may' concern.'

Be it known that we, FREDERICKTNCH and MAURICE `LACHMAN, citizens of the United States, and residents of White Plains, county of Westchester, State of New York, and New York, county and State of New York, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Car Bodies, of which the following is Aa specification.

Our invention relates to the construction of metal car bodies and is applicable to steel box. cars, gondola cars as well as passenger and Pullman cars.

' Theinvention further may be used for the construction of the bodies of trucks pro pelled by gasolene motors or other means and by theterm car as hereinafter used in the specification and claims we wish to be under-- stood as including truck bodies.'`

The .invention is particularly useful, however, for railway car bodies such as box, gondola and other railway cars. y The object of the invention is' to provide an all-metal body that may be constructed at a minimum cost for material and labor forl manufacture while at the same time attaining maximum of Strength', minimum of overall width, a maximum. of cubic carrying.

capacity and great mechanical resistance to torsion, shock or other disintegrating inluences. y e

A further object is to dispense withthe necessity for employing side sills, posts, and other additional members heretofore considered necessary in the construction of an all-steel car body for attachment of the metal plates of which the body is composed. l

Our invention embodies novelty not only in the body itself but also in the construction f of the end walls as well as the roof.

Briefly stated,v the invention' consists, so far as the body proper is concerned, in'making it up from U-shaped channel members disposed transversely of the body and welded together by their ianges, the legs of the Us forming the bases or bottoms of the Us together forming the floor. Tol secure the objects of our invention to the' fullest extent we dispose the channel members with the flanges projecting outwardly and the .webs of the the side walls of the car and Us forming-[together flush surfaces of lthe sidewalls and floor of the car.

In the construction of the end walls we employ a series or assemblage of U-shaped channel members disposed horizontally and welded together by the meeting surfaces of the flanges, said anges preferably projecttaken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a box car body constructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig.y 2 is a similar view of a gondola car embodying our invention. f

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the car body on the line` 3 3 Fig. 1.

Fig. 4L is a similar transverse section on the 1in@ 4 4 Fig. 2.-

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the' lover port1on-of thecar body embracing one en Each of the members which in assemblage form"the wall` and bottom of the car body \eonsists of a channel member the web of which is indicated at 1 in the various figures while 2 indicates the flanges of said member projecting from one side of the bar. In the bodyv each flanged member is made of a bent length of channel member bent to U form as shown better in Figs. and 4. Said U- shaped members are secured together side to side with the flat outer faces of the flanges engaged directly with one another as shown in the perspective views and in the section Fig. 5 and, in carrying out our invention', said flanges are fastened directly to one another by welding them by the resistancel loo method of electric welding practiced .by the use of any suitable apparatus which will permit the pressure members or dies of the welding machine to embrace the flanges of contiguous channel members between them to effect the weld in the manner well understood in the art.

One of such welds is indicated in the drawings at 4. Any number of such welds may be employed as may be found desirable for best securing the members together. By employing an electric weld for this purpose we are enabled to utilize channel members in which the flanges project from the base or web to a much less distance than would be required if the fastening were effected by the employment of rivets, the reason of this being that in riveting practice good engineering demands that the rivet be set in from the edge of the flange a distance equivalent to the diameter of the rivet. By welding, however, the union may be made near to or may embrace in part the edge.

Hence, as will be obvious, We are enabled to reduce the over-all width of the car while securing the desired rigidity and as a consequence are enabled to obtain an increase in the inside width and add thereby to the total cubic carrying capacity of the body. Also, as will be seen, by arranging the U-formed channel members with the flanges projecting outwardly and the web parts meeting closely, we obtain smooth flush interior surfaces for the sides and-floor, said flush sides consisting of the web part of the'U-formcd channel members and said flush floor comprising the base portion of the U connecting said legs. At the top end of the Us we apply an inverted channel member 5 running the' length of the body and embracing the ends of said Us between its flanges. This fies the Us together against relative displacement sidewise and adds further to the strength and rigidity of the body. The flanged rail or finishing member 5 preferably has an inside flange extending downward a somewhat greater distance than the outside flan e in order to obtain an extended bearing sur .ace and topermit ready welding or fastening of said flange to the inside face of the channeled U by, preferably, electric vwelds of any desired number at positions indicated at 6 in Figs. 3 and 4. -The outer flange of saidV channel 5 being shorter, leaves room for the application of the welding tools or dies which embrace the web ofthe upper end of the U-shaped, flanged member and the downwardly depending deeper flange of the finishing rail or channel bar.

The end wall' of the body consists of similar channel members arranged transversely, as better shown in the perspective views. The flanges of these members project outwardly and the Webs thereof together form a continuous flush inner surface for the end wall. 'The flanges are fastened together in a similar vway to that already described by maximum strength under all conditions with e minimum of weight.

In this case, as before, the welding permits the projection of the flange to be minimized with attendant advantage as respects.

the space occupied by thickness of the end wall. Also it contributes to giving a maximum inside length for the interior of the car body and in this respect adds to the cubic carrying capacity. The end Wall thus formed is secured directly to the side walls of the body without the intervention of the usual uprights or posts by fastening the webs of the end channels to the flanges of the last upright U-shaped channel member entering into vthe formation of the body. One of suoli welds, of which there may be any desired number, is indicated at 9.

As will be seen, a further advantage of this end wall construction is that it dispenses with the necessity for using an end sill for fastening the upright end wall in position. In the end wall the upper channel member may be specially formed as shown in Fig. l to match the pitch of the roof by making its web part of diminishing width from the center, as shown in the figure, and the flange at the upper edge of said web may be omitted, said web being secured or weldedy with its face against the outer side of the flange for the end member of the roof.

`The roof may be constructed ina simi`ar manner or in any other desired way in the case of a box or similar roofed car by sup porting the edges ofthe roof directly upon the longitudinal finishing channels which connect the ends of the U-shaped members', as indicated in Fig. 3. When the roof is made of channel members each member may be bent to give the desired pitch, as indicated in Fig. 3, and at its ends each said member may be welded by its web directly to the web of sai-d longitudinal, channelled tying member by any desired number of welds, one of which is indicated'at 10. The shorter outside flange of said longitudinal, channelled member assists in providing for ready application of the welding or pressure electrodes. The roof channel members have their flanges projecting outwardly and rest in close side contact with one another to effect complete closure of the roof elementsv of the car and are'welded directly toene another by welds of any desired number, one of which is indicated at 12. By this means and by the close fitting of the outside surfaces of said flanges the body is closed effectually against entrance of moisture.

As `.vill be seen, our construction not only lll) iis

rovides a very rigid structure of the car ody with few chances for collection of dirt and moisture on the inside in the case of the gondola car, a feature which is also 'of use in the closed box car since the channel member may be bent to form a curve, as illustrated in Fig. 4, at the junction of the leg and base of the U.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that by our invention we are enabled not only to eliminate practically all riveting, reduce or do away with the weights of angle or channel framing, splice plates, stakes, etc., but also effectually secure the main objects of our invention as heretofore set out.

The usual longitudinal central beam or girderl for the under body may obviously be employed. The webs and flanges of the channel members at the bottom of the body afford convenient meansfor making the attachment of the latter member as will be Well understood by those skilled in the art of steel car constructions.

In thecarrying out of our invention we prefer to employ as the channel members rolled channel bars, suitable lengths of the sameI to form the floor and side walls being bent up to U form and some of them being stopped off at the door or window openings in the case of the box or passenger' car, as indicated in Fig. 1.

If under certain circumstances it -is desirable to turn the flanges of the' channels inwards it can readily be done.

What We claim as our invention is 1. A metal car body having its sides and floor integral and composed of an assemblage of U-shaped channel members dis- Vposed transversely .of the body 4and secured v together by their flanges, the legs of the Us forming the side walls of the car and the bases or bottoms Vof the Us together forming the floor. Y

2. A car body having its sides and floor integral and composed of an assemblage of U-shaped channel nmmbers disposed transverselyv and secured together by their flanges, the legs ofthe Us forming the side walls of the car and the bases or bottoms of-the Us together forming the floor,- said ,channel members forming means for attachment of `a central longitudinal under frame, sill or beam.

3. A metal car body having its sides and floor integral and composed of U-shaped channel members disposed transversely of the body in an assemblage wherein the Webs of the channels form interior flush surfaces for the sides and floor, the flanges of said members lying in contact and being welded together o-utside the body in combination with longitudinal,channelled finishing bars embracing the free ends of the Us and being welded by their flanges to the webs of said channels. v

complete end t rectly tudinal channel-member .embracing by their flanges the free ends of said U-shaped members and channel members composing the roof and assembled with their flanges engaged and Welded together, the ends of the roof members resting by their web Ipart upon and being welded by said web part to the web part of the finishing channel.

5. A'car body Ahaving an all-metal end composed of an assemblage of channel bars disposed transversely and engaging one. another by their flanges to form a complete end wall, said flanges being directly welded to one another in their vmeeting surfaces, and an all-metal side Wall. comprising upright channel members secured together by their flanges, the end members of said side wall being secured directly by their flanges Aagainst the webs of the bars composing the end wall at the car body corners.

6.1A car body having an all-metal end composed of an assemblage of channel members disposed transversely and engag-l ing one another by their flanges to form a wall, said flanges being disecured to one another in their meeting surfaces and said flanges extending outwardly so that the webs of the bars will form a flush inside surface for said end Wall, and an all-metal side wall comprising upright channel bars secured together by their flanges, a flange ofv the 'channel at the car body corner lyingA against and being secured directly to the Webs'of the members transversely disposed of the end.

7 In a metal car body, the combination of a body portion comprising U-shaped channel members disposed transversely of the body` with the legs of the U upright and Welded together by their flanges and an "end member. comprising transversely .extending channel .members welded together by their flanges and welded by their webs directly to the flange of the end member of thel body.

8. A metal car bod having its sides and bottom composed of lshaped channel members, the legs and bottom of the U-s being integral and said members being disposed transversely of the body with thewebs of the channels on the inside, the flanges of said members lying in ycontact outside the body and being welded together.

9. A metal car body composed of integral U-shaped channel members disposed transversely of the body with their flanges directly welded together on their meeting surfaces and longitudinal finishingchannels embracing the ends of the Us and having a flange on one side deeper than on the other side, said 'deeper flange being Welded directly to the webs o f the Us.

10. A metal ear body composed of integral U-shaped Channel members disposed transversely of the body With their anges directly Welded together on their meeting surfaces and longitudinal finishing channels embracing the ends of the Us and having a flange on one side deeper than on the other side, said deeper flange being Welded directly to the Webs of the Us, and a roof supported directly upon land engaging the 10 surface of the Webs of Said nishing channels and Welded direotl thereto.

Signed at New Ork, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 29th day of January, A. D. 1925.

FREDERICK TENGH. v MAURICE LACHMAN. 

